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China Tightens Censorship of Electronic Communications
BEIJING — If anyone wonders whether the Chinese government has tightened its grip on electronic communications since protests began engulfing the Arab world, Shakespeare may prove instructive.
A Beijing entrepreneur, discussing restaurant choices with his fiancée over their cellphones last week, quoted Queen Gertrude’s response to Hamlet: “The lady doth protest too much, methinks.” The second time he said the word “protest,” her phone cut off.
He spoke English, but another caller, repeating the same phrase on Monday in Chinese over a different phone, was also cut off in mid-sentence.
A host of evidence over the past several weeks shows that Chinese authorities are more Read more…
True Obama debt bigger than planet’s entire GDP
 President Obama |
As the Obama administration prepares to finance a Fiscal Year 2011 budget deficit expected to top $1.6 trillion, the American public is largely unaware that the true negative net worth of the federal government reached $76.3 trillion last year.
That figure was five times the 2010 gross domestic product of the United States and exceeded the estimated gross domestic product for the world by approximately $14.4 trillion.
According to the U.S. Department of Commerce Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. GDP for 2010 was $14.861 trillion. World GDP in 2010, according to the International Monetary Fund, was $61.936 trillion.
“As government obligations continue to spiral out of control and the U.S. government shows no willingness to make the magnitude of spending cuts required to return to fiscal responsible, the U.S. economy is headed to a great collapse coming in the form of a hyper-inflationary great Read more…
H.R. 910: Seizing the Moral High Ground (How to Foil Opponents’ Rhetorical Tricks)
Yesterday, the House and Commerce Committee approved H.R. 910, the Energy Tax Prevention Act, as amended, by 34-19. The bill would stop EPA from ’legislating’ climate policy through the Clean Air Act. All 31 Republicans and three Democrats (Mike Ross of Arkansas, Jim Matheson of Utah, and John Barrow of Georgia) voted for the bill.
Opponents introduced several amendments, all of which were defeated.
Ranking Member Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) offered an amendment stating that Congress accepts EPA’s finding that “climate change is unequivocal.” Rep. Diana DeGett (D-Colo.) offered an amendment stating that Congress accepts as “compelling” the scientific evidence that Read more…
F.D.I.C. Approves ‘Too Big to Fail’ Plan
A top banking regulator approved a plan to seize and unwind big banks — a proposal that will help address those “too big to fail” firms whose collapse could imperil the financial system.
The board of Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation voted unanimously on Tuesday to approve a set of proposed rules intended to create an orderly process to unwind large financial institutions. The rules outline how creditors can file a claim and how those claims will be addressed, hopefully bringing some clarity to a previously murky situation.
The vote moves the proposal into a 60-day public comment period, after which the agency will have to settle on final rules. The rule would apply to big banks, financial firms and large nonfinancial companies that pose a systemic risk to the broader economy.
“Today’s action is another significant step toward leveling the competitive playing field and enforcing market discipline on all financial Read more…
U.S. might be giving away sensitive military technology, report finds
Sensitive military technology might be slipping into enemy hands, in part because of a dramatic decline in the number of foreign workers that the Commerce Department screens, federal auditors have found.
For national security purposes, the United States controls the export of so-called dual-use technologies — items that have both civilian and military uses, including computer security tools — to countries of concern, including Iran and North Korea.
One way to restrict the transfer of such technology is for Commerce to screen visa applications from foreign nationals who wish to work in U.S. high-tech companies.
But the Commerce Department, the agency responsible for checking visa applications to identify potential unlicensed exports, is not screening thousands of those forms, according to a Government Accountability Office report released on Monday.
Reduced visa application vetting is one of several factors that “may indicate the continuing risk that foreign nationals could gain unauthorized access to controlled technology,” the auditors wrote.
Commerce checked only 150 visa forms in fiscal 2009, a dramatic drop from Read more…
China Adds New Limits on Foreigners
A police officer, left, filmed a foreign journalist as street cleaners swept water to keep passersby moving and a plain clothes officer, right, watched pedestrians on Sunday along Wangfujing Street in Beijing, where a protest had been called.
By SHARON LaFRANIERE
BEIJING — Apparently unnerved by an anonymous Internet campaign urging Chinese citizens to emulate protests that have rocked the Middle East, the authorities this week have begun a forceful and carefully targeted clampdown on activities by foreigners that the government deems threatening to Read more…
Proof the government is preparing for a catastrophe
58% Favor Government Shutdown Until Spending Cuts Are Agreed Upon
As Republicans and Democrats in Congress haggle over the budget, most voters would rather have a partial shutdown of the federal government than keep its spending at current levels.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 33% of Likely U.S. Voters would rather have Congress avoid a government shutdown by authorizing spending at the same levels as last year. Fifty-eight percent (58%) says it’s better to have a partial shutdown until Democrats and Republicans can agree on what spending to cut. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
The partisan differences are striking. Fifty-eight percent (58%) of Democrats prefer avoiding a shutdown by going with current spending levels. But 80% of Republicans — and 59% of voters not affiliated with either major party — think a shutdown is a better option until Read more…
Kill Switch Beta: Government Blocks 84,000 Websites
Kurt Nimmo
Infowars.com
February 16, 2011
Under the banner of fighting child pornography, the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice knocked out 84,000 websites last week. The websites did not host or link to child pornography as the government claims.
“As part of ‘Operation Save Our Children‘ ICE’s Cyber Crimes Center has again seized several domain names, but not without making a huge error. Last Friday, thousands of site owners were surprised by a rather worrying banner that was placed on their domain,” reports TorrentFreak, a tech site.
Senator Joe Lieberman peddles his kill switch legislation under the rubric of the phony war on terror.
“Advertisement, distribution, transportation, receipt, and possession of child pornography constitute federal crimes that carry penalties for first time offenders of up to 30 years in federal prison, a $250,000 fine, forfeiture and restitution,” was the message visitors to the sites were Read more…
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